


Restoration

by Kalua



Category: Pokemon Fan Games, Pokemon Reborn
Genre: And with Cain's innuendos, Gen, I've tried my best with Hardy's accent, Idk how good I was with them but I tried lol, Pokemon Battles, Some minor Aya/Hardy but not enough to tag it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-25
Updated: 2020-02-25
Packaged: 2021-02-27 22:28:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,452
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22893280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kalua/pseuds/Kalua
Summary: Now that the rest of Reborn City is almost as good as it used to be, it's time to tackle the problems of Reborn's last ward: Byxbysion.
Relationships: Cain LaRue & Adrienn Flores & Aya LaRue & Hardy Andersen
Comments: 4
Kudos: 9





	Restoration

Adrienn looked over xyr paperwork again. Most of Reborn City had been cleaned up by now; Azurine Lake was once again home to many Pokémon, Blackstream Factory had become a shelter for people in need, and what used to be drab streets were now lined with flowers.

All of Reborn’s wards were doing great—except for one. Byxbysion Ward was still a wasteland, not even considered part of the city itself; its ground was covered in a thick layer of toxic waste that almost seemed to have a mind of its own, and barely anyone apart from a few researchers was willing to set foot in it. If Adrienn wanted to restore Byxbysion, and of course xe did, the first thing to do was find out what caused the pollution. The notes from the last couple of years indicated there had been efforts to restore Byxbysion before, but as if by magic, everything had turned into a wasteland again. If xe didn’t find out why, then any effort to restore it would be in vain.

Adrienn tapped xyr pencil on the paper. Xe would need someone who had some experience with the area; Byxbysion Ward wasn’t big, but its twisted landscape would make it far too easy to get lost. And even if xe didn’t, Byxbysion was filled with Poison-type Pokémon, not exactly the right place for Adrienn’s team.

As long as they were only doing research, they wouldn’t need a big team. Adrienn xemself, of course, and as for someone familiar with the area, xe could ask Cain and Aya. Three people should be enough.

Xe was reaching for the phone already when xyr eyes fell upon the clock. Two AM was probably not a good time to call anyone.

When Adrienn yawned, Shaylee gently nudged xyr arm. Adrienn glanced at her and patted her head. “You’re telling me to go to sleep, too, I assume?”

“Taiiiiils,” the Ninetails answered.

Adrien looked back down at xyr papers. There was still work to be done… But xe had barely finished that thought as Shaylee’s nudging became more insistent. Finally, xe relented. “All right, I’ll listen.” Xe quickly locked the paperwork in xyr drawers and stood up.

Tomorrow, xe would start putting things in motion to deal with Byxbysion.

It took a few weeks to set everything up. Aya had asked Hardy to come along, making their group a bit bigger; Cain suggested asking Vero, but Vero was still busy taking dealing with the last remnants of Team Meteor. Only the four of them, then.

The group had barely stepped foot into Byxbysion when Adrienn already had to cover xyr mouth with xyr sleeve to suppress a cough. The air in the city had been bad when xe came back, but that was no comparison to former Byxbysion Ward.

Hardy shot him a pitying look. “Don’t worry mate, you’ll get used to it.”

Adrienn would’ve taken a deep breath, but that didn’t seem like the best course of action. Instead, xe just tried to breath as shallowly as possible and nodded. “All right. You know your way around here better than I do; any suggestions where to start looking?”

“Weeeell, back when we were kids, Aya and I sometimes played around the hideout. Didn’t find anything there, so it’s probably not too close to it.” Cain didn’t seem bothered by the air around here in the slightest; part of Adrienn worried what growing up in a place like this would mean for his and Aya’s health in the future.

Aya shrugged. “I’d guess wherever the waste comes from would be the place with the most of it,” she suggested. “So. That way.”

She started leading the group. Hardy fell in beside her, Adrienn and Cain followed. After a while, Adrienn started getting used to breathing here; it was far from pleasant, but at least xe didn’t feel like the air was burning xyr lungs anymore.

Adrienn barely even noticed Cain’s flirting, too focused on looking around, seeing if there was something standing out around here. Easier said than done, really; Byxbysion Ward wasn’t just filled with toxic waste, it was also incredibly… weird. Almost everything seemed out of place to xem, so xe had to rely on Aya and Cain to mention things truly out of the ordinary.

The sun was almost setting, and their little search party was about to call it a day.

“Why are you so sure there’s something causing all of this, anyway?” Aya asked, sighing.

“Well, Byxbysion has been hit with pollution far more than any other ward, although nothing indicates a reason for it,” Adrienn answered. “And then there’s the last try to clean it up. Of course, there is a chance people are exaggerating, but the way they tell the story, all the waste returned overnight. Even in the state Reborn was in when I came back, I doubt it’s possible for so much waste to have accumulated in such a short amount of time.”

“Makes sense.” Hardy shrugged. “Wish they’d figured out where all of it was coming from, though. Any place we haven’t checked yet?”

Aya thought for a moment, then looked over at Cain.

He tilted his head to the side. “There’s still the caves, we haven’t been in there yet.”

“Then let’s go there, and if we can’t find anything, we’ll try again tomorrow.”

This time, Cain took the lead. “I’ve been here a few times before. Almost nobody comes through here, so it’s a nice place if you don’t want to be interrupted~”

“Why would you—” Hardy started, but quickly interrupted himself. “Never mind, don’t answer.”

Cain just smirked at him, and probably would have winked if Aya hadn’t shot him a glare.

“Is it just me, or is the waste moving? More than usual, that is.” Hardy stopped and looked down.

Adrienn shook xyr head. “No, I feel it, too. I’d say that means we’re going the right way.” Xe took one Poké Ball off xyr belt. “Better be careful; who knows what’s waiting for us down there.”

The others nodded. It felt as if the movement was getting stronger every step they took, until they ended up in a small room, no second exit in sight.

“I’m guessing we went into the wrong hole?” Cain ran his hand over one of the walls. “Doesn’t look like there’s anything in here.”

“But the ground’s moving more than anywhere else.” Aya closed her eyes for a moment, as if she was trying to pinpoint where the movement came from.

Hardy nodded. “If it’s somewhere around here, maybe we should just dig? Whatever it is could be hidden under all the waste, don’t ya think?”

Adrienn nodded. “Come out, Orphne.” The Mawile looked around, fairly unimpressed by her surroundings. “I know digging isn’t your strong suit, but it’s not exactly a good place for the others.” Adrienn petted Orphne’s head for a moment, then she nodded and knelt down to start moving the waste.

“Let’s go, Lycanroc, both of ya. Let’s show ‘em how it’s done.” Hardy’s Lycanrocs appeared and started to dig, much faster than Orphne could.

Aya threw three of her Poké Balls. “Salazzle, Venusaur, Lycanroc. Help the others.” There was just the hint of a smile on her—and Hardy’s—face when she looked at her own Lycanroc working side by side with Hardy’s.

Adrienn noticed, but decided not to comment; Aya’s and Hardy’s relationship, whatever it was, was their business.

Cain, on the other hand, thought otherwise. “Aww, how cute, your Pokémon match~”

“Shut up.” Of course, the comment earned him a glare from Aya.

“All right~ For now. Come on Nidoking, Marowak, you two can help, too. And Muk’s gonna have a feast.”

With so many Pokémon working, the waste should be gone quickly; and indeed, the Pokémon did move a lot of it. But if they looked at the depth of their holes, it felt painfully slow. Still, they were making progress, and the slow speed was only further proof the root of the pollution was in here somewhere.

“Hm? This looks… Familiar.” Cain crossed his arms and nodded towards some metal poking out of the waste. “Let’s focus on the area around that thing.”

The more waste they removed from the object, the more worried Cain looked, though he tried his best to mask it.

“Do ya know what that is?” Hardy asked, glancing at him.

Cain nodded. “Well~ It’s hard to tell when you can see only the tip, but it looks a lot like one of those PULSE machines, doesn’t it?”

“So you think Team Meteor is the reason the Wasteland is what it is?” Aya looked at the machine, still mostly hidden by waste.

Adrienn nodded. “It would make sense. They were behind most of Reborn’s problems, too, weren’t they? The pollution of Azurine Lake, the Water Treatment Center… I wouldn’t put it above them to be the root of Byxbysion Ward’s problems, too.” Xe glanced at the PULSE. “Let’s keep going.”

After some more digging, Hardy’s Midday Lycanroc suddenly growled and jumped back, causing the other Pokémon to stop, too.

“What’s wrong, buddy?” Hardy knelt down beside it; one of Lycanroc’s paws looked burned, as if it had touched acid.

And just for a second, Adrienn could spot a Pokémon stuck inside the machine, before waste covered it again. So it really was a PULSE.

“Call back the other Lycanrocs,” xe told Aya and Hardy. “And the Marowak, too. Or at least tell them to keep some distance.”

Hardy whistled, and his Lycanroc jumped to his side. “You heard him.” Then he looked at his hurt Pokémon. “Rest up for a while, mate.”

Now the only ones working right by the PULSE were the Poison types and Orphne; digging was slower without the Lycanrocs, but at least they wouldn’t get hurt. And little by little, they unearthed a huge Garbodor.

When its mouth and arms were made free, Adrienn once again had to cover xyr mouth with xyr sleeve, but that wasn’t enough to stop xemself from coughing this time. Hardy didn’t fare much better, and even Cain and Aya had to take a step back. No doubt this Pokémon was the cause of Byxbysion Ward’s problems.

“I’ll see if I can turn it off… Even if the opposite is usually my strong suit.” Cain stepped up to the back of the PULSE, only to be yanked back by Aya. And not a heartbeat too early, as the Garbodor released a cloud of toxic gas right where Cain had stood.

Hardy eyed the Garbodor. “Guess we’ll need to fight it if we wanna turn the thing off.”

“Well, we outnumber it easily.” Aya looked at her Pokémon. “Shouldn’t be too hard.”

Adrienn nodded. “Orphne, start with Iron Head!” Then xe glanced at xyr companions. “Be careful, though. And we’ll have to make sure it doesn’t get covered in waste again.”

Hardy and Aya called back their Lycanrocs, just like Cain called back his Marowak. They couldn’t attack directly, anyway, and would get seriously hurt if they got caught in Garbodor’s attacks.

“Meowstic, come out! Stay in the back and use Psychic!” Cain’s Meowstic did as she was told, ducking behind bits of trash after every attack to avoid getting hit by Garbodor.

Aya threw another Poké Ball. “Drapion, Aqua Tail. Make sure the others can keep digging.”

Drapion appeared and surrounded his tail with water. Garbodor roared when the attack hit—it couldn’t really dodge, strapped to the PULSE—and released a cloud of poisonous gas. Even Salazzle hissed and backed off for a moment before she composed herself again and kept digging.

“Meowstic, make it rain!” Meowstic nodded and started dancing, still hidden behind her rock. “Muk, quick break from eating, hit it with Thunder!”

The rain stopped the gas cloud from spreading, even if it meant they’d all be drenched by the time this battle was over.

“Orphne, another Iron Head!”

“Aqua Tail again, Drapion!”

The water around Drapion’s tail swirled faster, strengthened by the rain. It almost looked like it cut through some of Garbodor’s body—or maybe just through some of the trash sticking to it.

Orphne rammed her foe, but just as she made contact, Garbodor grabbed her.

“Orphne!” The Mawile struggled, but couldn’t break free of Garbodor’s hold. Adrienn suppressed a curse; the rest of xyr team couldn’t help in this fight, either.

“Drapion, Throat Chop.” Drapion lunged forwards and smacked his claws against Garbodor’s neck. Garbodor gasped for air, loosening its grip around Orphne just enough so that she could free herself.

Adrienn glanced at Aya. “Thank you.” Xe would have loved to say more, but first, they had to finish this fight.

Garbodor tossed some trash towards Meowstic when she appeared for another Psychic, but she dodged it just in time, though that meant Cain had to jump back to avoid getting hit.

Meowstic glanced towards her trainer, but Cain shook his head. “Keep going, girl! Another Psychic!”

Even three against one, the Garbodor had tremendous stamina. Meowstic’s moves were getting slower and slower, every jump she was closer to getting hit by an attack. Drapion’s and Orphne’s attacks lacked the force they’d put into them at the start. If they didn’t figure out something fast, they might end up having to flee this fight. Unless—

“Got it!”

In the time they’d been fighting, Hardy had managed to sneak up behind the Garbodor and get to the PULSE’s controls. Garbodor shrunk, and after one last, feeble attack, it collapsed.

For a few seconds, everyone just watched it, waiting for a reaction. Aya broke the tension by throwing a Poké Ball and after a few shakes, a “Ping!” told everyone the Garbodor was caught.

Aya shrugged. “Not its fault Team Meteor put it into a PULSE.”

“Aight, how about we all head home?” Hardy stepped away from the machine, stumbled, and might’ve fallen if Aya hadn’t caught him. “Huh, could’ve sworn the ground stopped moving.”

“It did. You might’ve just got sea legs from standing on it for so long.” Cain called his Pokémon back and stretched. “But I like Hardy’s idea~ Let’s go, we can tidy the place up tomorrow.”

As much as Adrienn would’ve liked to get right to work, it’d be much faster if xe organized a clean-up crew. The little research party was winded; by now, it must’ve been almost midnight, and their wet clothes seemed to leech away their body heat. “All right, let’s go home.”

Tomorrow, Adrienn could start gathering helpers to clean away the waste in Byxbysion Ward. And hopefully, it would soon be just another part of the city, as beautiful as it used to be.

**Author's Note:**

> I've gotten very, very attached to Adrienn. Protect xem. ~~Protect like, EVERYONE tbh but I don't wanna name everyone individually lol~~


End file.
